Axl Rose denies sexual assault allegation in new court filing
In November, 2023, Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose was accused of sexually assaulting a former model in New York more than 30 years ago. Now his legal team have filed to have the civil case dismissed, stating the alleged victim previously publicly said the encounter was consensual.
In the lawsuit, Sheila Kennedy, a former Penthouse model, asserted that she encountered the Guns N’ Roses frontman at a New York nightclub in 1989 before going back to his hotel suite, where she claims to have consumed cocaine and alcohol before being sexually assaulted by the musician.
Although the incident occurred over 30 years ago, it took until 2022 for Kennedy to report Rose. This lengthy time period is due to the waiving of the statute of limitations on sexual-misconduct claims for civil suits under the terms of the New York’s Adult Survivors Act for a 12-month period beginning in November 2022.
In court documents reported by Louder Sound, Rose’s lawyer states: “In her 2016 self-authored memoir, No One’s Pet, Kennedy described the alleged incident in the Complaint as consensual sex, and specifically noted: ‘I was okay with this. I had wanted to be with him since the minute I’d first laid eyes on him, and now I was getting him.'”
They continued: “In an interview for the 2021 documentary Look Away, Kennedy described the alleged sexual encounter this way: ‘[i]t was consented’; Rose was ‘not trying to hurt me’; and Rose acted ‘gently.’ Kennedy reiterated: ‘It was okay. He was fine. … I did not consider it rape. It was consensual.'”
Additionally, the attorney claims Kennedy is attempting to profit from the waiving of the statute of limitations, alleging: “Despite having made clear and definitive statements, both before and after the height of the ‘Me Too’ movement, that her alleged sexual encounter with Rose was consensual, her position has now shifted.”
They continue: “The belief that the statute of limitations had re-opened and that she could profit from claiming – for the first time, nearly 35 years later – that the incident had not in fact been consensual, was apparently too great an opportunity to pass up, and so she filed this false Complaint a mere two days before its expiration.”
Following news of the initial allegations, Rose’s attorney, Alan S. Gutman, said in a statement provided to Far Out, “Simply put, this incident never happened”.
Gutman continued: “Notably, these fictional claims were filed the day before the New York State filing deadline expires. Though he doesn’t deny the possibility of a fan photo taken in passing, Mr. Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to the Plaintiff, and has never heard about these fictional allegations prior to today. Mr. Rose is confident this case will be resolved in his favour.”
This is a developing story.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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